Hot-top



* L. B. LINDEMUTH.

I HOT TOP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, I919.

1,332,905. I Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

7 I 9 3 I 8 E f g a l 4 *7 Z 1 7 LEWIS B. LINDEMUTH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HOT-TOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

fPatented Mar. 9, 1920.

Application filed June 9, 1919. Serial No. 302,907.

To all whom it may concern:

Bent known that I, LEWIS B. LINDEMUTH, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hot-Tops; and 'I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to sink heads, feeders, or so-called hot tops forthe casting of ingots and other heavy c astings.

The object of the invention is to provide a hot top that will stand considerable rough handling, that cannot be easily broken as can those made of fire clay. that will be free to slide in the mold and follow the cooling and shrinking metal as its level descends after pouring and will not hang over the top of the mold. as is so often the case with fire-brick and rammed hot tops.

A further object is to increase the area or cross section of the sink head, and at the same time prevent sand, clay or other pack- ,ing from coming in contact with the ingot or falling'into the ingot mold during the pouring of the metal therein. I also decrease the'cost of manufacture and produce a comparatively light article, not readily broken.

All these advantages I obtain by my invention.

I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to use a perforated cast iron sleeve lined with molders sand, suspended in the top of a. chill. In such a structure the sand must necessarily be moist.

I use no lining. My hot top cannot be perforated. is not of-cast iron. and is intended to, and does, become welded to the casting.

I am also aware that soft iron sleeves have been welded to castings in order to provide a portion that can be easily dressed. or for other purposes. Such a sleeve covering, lining or intermediate layer used in the manufacture of clad metals or compound in- {lots is not a sink head or hot top. and is not for the purpose of facilitating the removal -of the casting from the mold and afterward cut off, with the crop end of an ingot.

I am also aware that boxes. have been used to surround hot tops for containing combustible material, but in such structures the hot top was supported by the bottom flange of the box, the top invariably resting on top of the mold, thereby permitting a fin to form at the joint. Such sink head feeders are usually made of refractory material, a's fire clay.

he accompanying drawings, in which like parts are similarly designated, illustrate the construction and use of my invention as applied to the casting of ingots, the hot top having an exaggerated thickness in order to clearly show it.

Figure 1 is a plan view, without a pouring box. Fig. 2 is a plan view with a pouring box in place.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the form shown in Fig. 1, partly in vertical section.

Fig. 4 is a like view of Fig. 2.

In these drawings Ihave shown the ingot mold as the inverted type, which is an ap proved type of mold, but I may use my invention with any type of mold, either the large or the small end uppermost, and of'any cross-sectional shape, round, square, octagonal, &c.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the cast iron mold 1 having its larger end uppermost, has the upper rim 2, lifting hooks 3 and trunnions 4. Such an ingot mold being old and in common use, these parts require no further descriptio My invention comprises forming a thin sheet metal, iron or steel, sink head 5 to-fit into the upper end of the mold and holding it in place by the friction against the sides of the mold. l

For small ingots the thickness of the sheet iron may be about 20 gage, say for ingots from four to six inchessouare. A 16 inch or 18 inch square ingot will require thicker sheet iron, about 12 or 10 gage.

The sheet iron is bent tosha-pe in any customary manner to fit snugly into the up per end of the mold. I have found it convenient to bend the sheet iron around a form similar to the inside of the mold, allowing the edges to overlap, and fastening the overlapped edges together .in any convenient manner, by spot welding or by a few rivets. Indeed, for small molds no fastenings at all will be necessary. The resiliency of the sheet metal is sufficient to' hold the sheet terior of the mold.

The sheet metal hot top 5 is inserted part way into the top of the mold and pro ects above the upper edge of the mold, as shown.

1 then place on top of the mold 1 and surrounding the projecting portion of the hot top, a packing'retainer or box 6, of sheet iron or cast iron, having an inwardly projecting flange for supporting the retainer on the ingot. This flange does not reach to the sheet metal hot top 5, and leaves a space 8 between its inner edge and thesheet metalhot top 5.

The packing retainer is, preferably but not necessarily, provided with downwardly projecting flanges 9 that loosely fit around the upper edge of the mold. These flanges permit the rapid placing of the retainer on the mold, without having to adjust it to obtain the space 8 all around the hot top.

With small molds these flanges may be more conveniently dispensed with than with large ones.

The sides of the retainer 6 are provided with holes 10 for the insertion of a lifting rod or hooks for removing the retainer after casting the metal in the mold;

After the parts are in place, dry sand, or other insulating material is placed in the space between the hot top 5 and the outer wall of the retainer 6 to adepth, say about six inches, more or less, depending upon the size of the ingot. It is not necessary to ram the sand. Preferably, but not neces-,

sarily, the space 8 is luted with any kind of material suited for the purpose, as with a piece of asbestos rope, clay, or the like, to prevent any particles of the dry sand from getting down between the inner surface of the mold 1 and the hot top 5 and mixing with the metal during pouring.

In Figs. 2 and 4 I have illustrated a heavier structure, the parts being the same as before. The hot top 5 is illustrated as having its overlapped ends secured together by rivets 12, and a packing of asbestos rope, or clay 13, is shown inserted at the space 8. The retainer is sufliciently heavy to support a pouring box 14.

The metal is poured into the mold until it rises nearly to the top of the sheet metal hot top 5, as is customary with hot tops. During the cooling of the casting the hot sheet metal 5 is free to slide down into the mold, while the metal above the top of the mold in the sink head 5 is kept hot by the insulating material 11, so as to fill the pipe as it tends to form,in the manner customary. with sink heads.

When the ingot is to be. drawn from the mold. the packing or'insulation retainer 6 is lifted off and the sand falls away leaving the hot top welded to the end of the ingot and to the sink head portion of the ingot projecting above the mold. The ingot is removed by grasping the projecting portion of the hot top 5 with a soaking pit crane or lifting dogs. This gives a firm holding portion for the crane grab or lifting dogs, and it is not necessary to break away the hot top or sink head before being able to securely grasp the projecting end of theingot, as is often the case with fire clay tops, and there is no fin where the hot top and mold are put together.

In every case the sink head 5 sticks to the casting and is not used again.

1. The combination with an ingot of a sheet metal hot-top in welded connection therewith.

2. An imperforate sheet metal hot-top for welding connection with a casting.

3-. A sheet metal hot-top having overlapping meeting edges.

4. A sheet metal hot-top having overlapping meeting edges secured together.

5. A sheet metal hot-top having overlapping meeting edges riveted together.

6. A sheet metal hot-top for welding connection with an ingot, comprising sheet metal whose overlapping edges are connected together and dimensioned for frictional engagement with the side of the mold.

7. The combination with an imperforate sheet metal hot-top frictionally held by engagement within a mold and projecting above the same, of an insulation container havinga bottom flange for resting on the ingot top, there being a space formed between the inner edge of the flange and the hot-top. A

8. The combination with an imperforate sheet metal hot-top frictionally held by engagement within a mold and projecting above the same; of an insulation container having a bottom flange for resting on the ingot top, there being a space formed between the inner edge of the flange and the hot-top, and a packing of refractory material placed in said space to lute the junction of the hot-top and ingot at the top of the ingot to prevent insulating material from entering the mold between the hot-top and mold.

'9. The combination wi h a hot top consisting of a sheet of metal of a composition similar to the metal to be cast whose lower portion is in frictional engagement with the interior of the ingot mold and whose upper portion projects above said mold for contaming the metal of the sink head; of an insulation container on the mold, there being a space formed between the container and top for the insertion of a packing at the joint between the container and mold and for the reception of heat insulating material.

10. The combination with an ingot mold,

of a hot top thereon and an insulation container on said mold surrounding the hot top and spaced therefrom, the space between the hot top and container for the reception of a sealing medium at the joint between said hot top and ingot mold.

11. A hot top comprising a short sheet of metal of a. composition similar to the metal to be cast conformed for frictional engagement with the interior of the mold, its lower end projecting within the top of the ,mold sufficient to frictionally support the same, andits upper end projecting above the mold suflicient to contain the excess metal of the sink head.

'12. A hot top comprising a short sheet of metal whose lower portion projects slightly within the top of the mold and whose upper end projects above the top of the mold and contains the excess metal of the sink head, 20

said sheet metal becoming welded to the metal cast in the crop end of the ingot.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name hereto.

LEWIS B. LINDEMUTH. 

